Lewis Base Activation of Silyl Acetals: Iridium-Catalyzed Reductive Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons Olefination

A Lewis base promoted deprotonative pronucleophile addition to silyl acetals has been developed and applied to the iridium-catalyzed reductive Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) olefination of esters and the chemoselective reduction of the resulting enoates. Lewis base activation of silyl acetals generates putative pentacoordinate silicate acetals, which fragment into aldehydes, silanes, and alkoxides in situ. Subsequent deprotonative metalation of phosphonate esters followed by HWE with aldehydes furnishes enoates. This operationally convenient, mechanistically unique protocol converts the traditionally challenging aryl, alkenyl, and alkynyl esters to homologated enoates at room temperature within a single vessel.